[Genetic techniques--chances--risks--limits (from the viewpoint of the legislator--ethical questions--status of medical research].

Gene technology is still a very young area of research. Advantages or disadvantages of this development cannot be tangibly predicted. Irrational desires and fears have surfaced resulting from the fact that we are now in a position of cultivate certain biological characteristics hitherto impossible to reproduce. Individual cases of genome analysis under working conditions, genome analysis as a genetic fingerprint, outdoor plant experiments and gene testing procedures in prenatal diagnoses should all be considered. Analysis uncertainty exists in all these fields, not least caused by multifunctional factors affecting genetic features. The question regarding the right to know or not to know, and the data protection problem irrevocably connected to this, is constantly being raised. It must be recorded that, in spite of the latest scientific findings, opportunities for therapy are frequently lacking. In all our efforts, the psychological conflicts of those concerned and the resulting socio-economic consequences must be taken into consideration.